This invention relates in general to safety belt systems utilized in automotive vehicles for restraining passengers in their seats during emergency conditions encountered by the vehicle, and more particularly to safety belt restraint devices employed for restraining a single belt in the event of such emergency conditions.
It is presently common practice in the automotive industry to use occupant restraint devices wherein safety belts employed in the systems are wound upon automatic, emergency locking safety belt retractors secured to the vehicle frame. When such automatic locking safety belt retractors are also employed as the anchoring means for the safety belt, the retractors are of necessity made of high strength materials for load bearing which increases their cost of manufacture and assembly. It has also become apparent that there is a certain amount of safety belt webbing extension encountered on the locking of such retractors due to the tightening of belt webbing about the retractor spool and the extension of the webbing portions stored in the retractor.
Web clamping means have been provided heretofore in association with the retractor mechanisms to quickly clamp the webbing in an emergency situation to overcome any undesirable webbing extension encountered on locking of the retractor. An example of such a retractor means-web clamping means arrangement is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,112. However, it would be desirable to be able to employ a light weight, low load, perhaps even plastic material construction for a retraction mechanism if the load bearing and reduced webbing extension features discussed could be maintained.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an emergency locking safety belt restraint assembly which will operate independently of a belt storage retractor which may be made of a light weight, even plastic material construction, and which will operate directly upon the safety belt webbing in a quickly operating and reliable manner in the event of an emergency condition. More specifically, it is the object of the present invention to disclose and provide a web guide and emergency locking assembly which provides a quick acting positive restraint of the belt in the event of an emergency, reduces belt webbing extension after activation of the emergency locking retractor due to webbing portions about the retractor spool and to provide a positive restraint on the webbing without damaging the webbing and without interferring with the normal operation of an emergency locking retractor where one is employed. Furthermore, the assembly is small in size and light in weight.